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NEWS: The Age 17 Aug 02: 10 years on, a new fight for innocence

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BigTrancer

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10 years on, a new fight for innocence
By Shane Green
Tokyo
August 17 2002
The Japanese call it the "Melbourne Case". It centres on the plight of five tourists jailed in Victoria 10 years ago in what Japanese lawyers and the media see as a clear miscarriage of justice.
Now, after exhausting appeals to Australian authorities, a group of more than 50 Japanese lawyers has appealed to the United Nations International Human Rights Commission on behalf of the prisoners, despite the fact that four of them are due for release later this year.
The saga began on June 17, 1992, at Melbourne Airport, when seven Japanese nationals were arrested. Five of them were eventually charged with trying to smuggle almost 13 kilograms of heroin into Australia...
Full article at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/16/1029114013311.html
This is a really thought provoking issue, there are so many cultural and legal issues involved. I got a lot out of reading further into this.
BigTrancer :)
Click to expand...
 
Well worth the read - re-enforces the obvious common sense to never let bags out of sight when travelling, never accept gifts when about to travel, etc etc etc etc....
 
Sadly it all rang so true. I've spent a lot of time in Japan and I can totally see how those people ended up in that situation - they genuinely wouldn't have thought to check their bags or suspect anything dodgy. Even the ex-cop (I have a very low opinion of Japanese cops, not corruption but just incompetence). While I have a love-hate relationship with Japan and the Japanese, one of the things I love most is the sweetness, general goodness and innocence/naivety of many Japanese. Actually I'd kind of draw an analogy to the clubbing vibe. In the same way the "nice" bits of people come to the surface and are responded to while in a club, I find that I can't be my normal sarcastic cynical self when confronted by such sweetness and light (this also happened with the Pommie football supporters at the World Cup!).
 
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